By: Spandana Palyam (Liberal Arts and Science Academy High School)
Chair and clerk duo Annika Singh and Zoe Moreno compete together for the 6th year in a row. Singh and Moreno’s experience together lead the development of their partnership and proposals in State Affairs Forum. “I met Zoe in sixth grade when we were 11 and we’ve always been very compatible partners,” Singh said. She describes their partnership as playing to each other’s strengths. When deciding their proposal topics, Moreno and Singh’s first step is calling each other. “We typically have a single call for four hours, brainstorming, thought-dumping, cleaning up, and then bam! Proposal,” Singh explained. Once they sort through topics, they go through details and write the proposals. After writing they revisit and review the proposal using their individual strengths. “I work out more technical details of the proposal, but Zoe handles the visuals, deadlines, and rubrics,” Singh said. After the proposals are finalized, both delegates go back and present to each other. Moreno and Singh reveal that they both depend on each other’s support and suggestions. Moreno deeply appreciates Singh’s strength during preparation and competition. “Annika gives the best compliments and makes you feel so wanted and loved,” Moreno said. Moreno thinks Singh’s positive energy and guidance is “the embodiment of the family-like feel of YG.” Singh is often inspired by Moreno’s optimism and extroverted personality. “No matter what she’s dealing with, or what she’s helping me with, she stays focused on the goals and the bright side,” Singh said.
This led to the development of their joint proposal- Separation of Church and State: School Safety. Their proposal focuses on removing religious promotion by counselors at schools. Moreno plans to implement this by firstly requiring public school counselors to have a counseling license. Second, creating a report system for people to be able to report a counselor if they suspect their child is being religiously influenced. Lastly, if a staff member has been caught three times, then must pay a fine.
When presenting their proposal, they received overwhelming support from other delegates. “It is important to encourage a religiously inclusive environment for students,” Moreno said. Together, Singh and Moreno believe this proposal is the first step towards the fostering of personal beliefs and improving school counseling.